Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 731,828 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,966,661 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 731,828 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.21% of Verizon Communications worth $357,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 81,945 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,379,000 after purchasing an additional 7,656 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.8% during the second quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 53,941 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 866.9% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 155,311 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $6,405,000 after acquiring an additional 139,249 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $98,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7,577.3% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 629,619 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,953,000 after purchasing an additional 621,418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $39.59. 27,089,968 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,589,742. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.56 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.86.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).